Thursday, August 1, 2013

Multitasking Behind The Wheel Like Driving Blindfolded

Multitasking Behind The Wheel Like Driving Blindfolded



Multitasking—doing several things simultaneously—may increase productivity if you’re behind your desk. But when you’re driving, it’s deadly.
Distracted driving - - commonly the practice of texting or using your cell phone while driving - - has emerged as a leading cause of highway fatalities here and around the globe.
In response to the growing numeral of deaths caused by distracted driving, 32 nations - - including Brazil, France, Japan, Jordan, Spain, Taiwan and the United Empire - - have passed laws that restrict drivers ' use of hand - censurable devices. Portugal has outlawed all phone use - - hand - guilty or hands - free - - in the driver ' s seat. More recently, the United Nations issued a decree banning its 40, 000 employees from texting while driving.
The numbers are compelling. Ace are approximately 600 million passenger vehicles on the road today and 4. 6 billion cell phone subscriptions. According to the World Health Whole ( WHO ), 1. 3 million lives are claimed every clock as a issue of car accidents, or one death every 30 seconds. That agency estimates that car accidents will climb from the ninth to the fifth leading cause of death worldwide by 2030.
The Rampant Road Safety Fellowship estimates that driver behavior is responsible for between 80 and 90 percent of all roadway accidents. As the cipher of expressive communication devices continues to rise, more drivers will have access to them, use them and be distracted by them, leading to more deadly crashes.
In the United States, the numbers are dismal.
The Governmental Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that more than 6, 000 deaths and half a million injuries arise annually as a result of distracted driving.
In response, seven states have outright bans on using any handheld cell phone while driving ( California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah and Washington ), as do the District of Columbia and the U. S. Virgin Islands. Wireless headsets are banned for young drivers ( under 18 or 21, depending on the state ) in 21 states and D. C. Twenty - three states and D. C. ban matter messaging for all drivers, while nine other states ban it for minors and / or new drivers.
The epidemic of distracted driving has lawmakers, regulators and experts forcible quickly to nourish the issue and to effectuate and enforce distracted driving laws.
Department of Transportation Secretary Shaft LaHood has confessed he is on a “personal mission” to end distracted driving. “If you have an emergency in your car, enterprise over, compass your cell phone, prate to whoever you have to speak to, ” he verbal in a raw vacation. “But when you’re driving from one place to another, slick is no propaganda, either subject or phone, that’s important until you get to your destination. ”
Prompted by LaHood, last age, the Obama administration banned public employees from texting while driving and sunny public contractors and others contact business with the dominion to issue companion policies.
“Studies fireworks that when a driver sends a issue message, he is looking away from the road for 4. 6 seconds of every 6 seconds he or girl types, ” says Jim Adler, a Houston - based car accident attorney who has followed the issue closely. “At 55 miles an hour, that’s like driving the twist of a football field blindfolded.
“It ' s vital to funnel a clarion message to all drivers that multi - tasking - - texting and cell calls - - is dangerous and can cause catastrophic car accidents. Consequently, to some extent, the public must police itself, curb those calls and ‘hang up and drive, ’ ” he vocal.

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